For 2012, I told myself that I would go back to writing. This week, when I returned from my Christmas-birthday and New Year trip in San Francisco, I immediately got back to cooking. It wasn’t just to eat; it was to start updating this Web site as soon as possible to keep up with that resolution.

While in San Francisco, I cooked beef stew for a family of five who was renting a house by the ocean in Montara, a few miles away from downtown and minutes away from beautiful Pacifica. I only had a couple of hours to feed all of us–we were all tired from our respective full day–so I felt like I didn’t deliver as much as I could have if I had more time or if I was cooking in my apartment back in New York City with all the necessary equipment. They ate the food though, and I honestly think they enjoyed it; or they were just really being polite!

To make up for that shortcoming that’s still eating me a little bit inside, I asked an Armenian co-worker for a tried and true winter stew recipe. He emailed me a rough draft of this lamb and orzo recipe and I put my own spin to it when I got home. While I was cooking, I remembered that back in 2006, I had started this mini-project to cook as many traditional family recipes from people I know who hail from different countries.Unfortunately, I stopped updating it in 2008, but now I have another excuse to go back to writing.

I don’t know much about Armenia. Okay, I know nothing besides what I learned from Ararat, the 2002 movie about the genocide. But even my co-worker blames his too-American father for knowing more about Chinese culture (his wife is Chinese) than his own. When he visits his family in Colorado, this dish is one to be served during their stay. They save it for special occasions–perhaps because lamb was more expensive to procure back in the day–but also because it was hearty and brought the family together.

I now wish I can get another chance to cook for that same family in Montara so I may redeem myself, impress a little bit more and bring the members back together again.

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, cut in quarters
1 1/5 lbs of lamb stew cuts
salt
pepper
1 yellow onion, minced
beef broth
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded, chopped
1 15-ounce can of tomato purée
2 cups of orzo pasta

1. In a large heated Dutch oven, add the butter until browned and almost melted. Add and brown the lamb pieces on all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onions and mix until translucent. Cover the pot and cook for 1 hour in low heat.
2. Check after the first 25 minutes and add a splash of beef broth so that the meat doesn’t burn or stick to the pot. Gently stir with a wooden spatula. Repeat after the next 25 minutes to avoid burning. Add the tomatoes and the bell pepper after the hour is up and cook for another 30 minutes. Add another splash of broth after the first half of the 30 minutes to avoid burning the vegetables.
3. Boil some water in a separate pot and set aside. Uncover the Dutch oven and add the tomato purée to the lamb and vegetables. Slowly add some hot water splash by splash, or until you have the desired consistency. Your stew must be somewhat saucy, not too thick but not too watery either.
4. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the orzo and cook by constantly stirring everything with your spatula, about 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Feel free to add a jig or two of the hot water to make sure your sauce does not thicken too much. Season with more salt as necessary. Turn off the stove and cook the pasta for the last 2 minutes with the remaining heat by stirring some more.

Related post/s:
Cooking the World: Global Gastronomy

Am I bummed that my apartment building won’t let me grill out on my terrace? Of course I am! Recipes like this make me wish I can just step out and put a nice piece of meat on the grill even if it’s just dinner for one. But alas, I don’t get everything I want, so I have to settle for a hot oven inside my home during the summer.

Shank is the portion of meat beneath the knee. There’s a lot of movement in that part of an animal, so its meat is sinewy. Braising is the way to go to soften it, but I didn’t want the oven on too hot too long and decided to roast it instead. I cooked the shank 75 degrees lower than I normally would when roasting and I went past 45 minutes until the meat passed my medium-rare finger test. (Gently press the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb. Feel the fleshy area between the thumb and the base of the palm. That’s how the meat should feel like when it’s medium rare.)

Shave off the lamb meat from the bone and serve with mint sauce. Store the remaining meat in a container in the fridge–it will keep for a few days to a week. When ready to eat the leftovers, toss with salad greens, some grape tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Ingredients:
1 lamb shank
sprigs of rosemary
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small knob of butter
salt
pepper
oil

1. Preheat your oven to 300º. In the meantime, use a small knife to create small slits around the lamb shank. Stuff the slits, or pockets, with small pieces of butter, rosemary and garlic. Using cooking twine, tie up the shank at 1-inch intervals to hold its shape while roasting.
2. Brush the shank with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Roast in the oven for about 1 hour. Remove to a chopping block and let rest for 20 minutes. Carve to serve.

Related post/s:
Braised lamb shank recipe
This hank shank recipe with sausage is one of my favorites

Jenny and Steve from Los Angeles were flying in at midnight and I knew they were going to be hungry. I warned them to save their appetite and skip the junk food in the plane and just go straight to my apartment in Harlem for a very late dinner. I had a few hours to prepare this dish after work, so there was no mad rush to finish until I received a text message that they were on their way from the airport.

This seems like an overload of meat because the lamb could stand out on its own, but when you already have sausages in the fridge, why wouldn’t you put them together? A mixed green salad or roasted vegetables would make good matches too, but pork would probably make your guests happier. (I added roasted thyme-potatoes here.) It did mine, and they were off to a good start in their New York City vacation.

Ingredients:
1 small boneless leg of lamb, trimmed, rolled and tied
salt
pepper
oil
2 Italian pork hot sausages, casing removed, crumbled
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 tomato, diced
half a fennel bulb, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
a handful of basil leaves, julienned
a dash of red pepper flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 375º. Season the leg of lamb liberally with salt and pepper and place on a roasting rack that fits inside a roasting pan. Transfer the lamb to the oven and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 130º for medium rare, about 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, tent with foil and allow the lamb to rest while you make the sausage crumble.
2. Heat a large skillet with some oil. Add the sausage and cook over medium-high heat until cooked through and browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the shallot, tomato, fennel and carrot to the pan and sauté until tender. Add the sherry vinegar and scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage back in with the basil and red pepper flakes.
3. To serve, cut the leg of lamb into 1/2-inch slices, divide among plates and top with the sausage crumble.

Related post/s:
Mutton versus lamb
Roast leg of lamb from Dickson Farmstand

My first real night of cooking in my apartment called for one of my favorite meats: lamb. “Real” as in I’m-home-alone-for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time and I-don’t-mind-any-minute-of-it kind of real. I stopped by the halal meat market in my neighborhood where I patiently waited for the lady to slice off the loin from the whole lamb into manageable chunks. I keep coming back to this store because the lamb is crazy cheap; I just have to deal with their Island Time and re-explain how I like the ribs with the long handle bones intact and accept the fact that when I ask for ground lamb, the response will always be: I don’t have time to ground meat right now, even though I’m the only one in the store. (I have since bought my own food grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.)

Look at that lamb though! They would easily cost more than $25 at Whole Foods but that lot cost me $12 here in Harlem. I don’t know enough about halal meat and still don’t know why it smells differently than, say, gourmet lamb meat from New Zealand, but they make a good meal every time.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds lamb loin, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-ounce box couscous
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
half a bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
a handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
a handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 tsps paprika
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt, oil

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Add the lamb, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add some of the lamb to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining lamb. Return the lamb to the pot along with the onion and carrots. Add the garlic, ginger, and zest and stir.
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, parsley, and olives.

Related post/s:
Try this meatball tagine dish when it’s a little cooler outside
I’ve come a long way in cooking tagine, don’t you think?
Still one of my favorite countries: Tunisia

For the love of meat, Jake Dickson of Dickson Farmstand worked in several farms, a butcher shop and a slaughterhouse. All the effort paid off and he thought of a brilliant business plan: buy your upstate produce online and pick it up in the city from the back of his truck. I bought a boneless leg of lamb from Ehrhardt Farm in Jersey Hill, one of the highest elevations in Tompkins County, New York.

I also ordered a package of fatty bacon and ground pork but I’ll focus on the leg of lamb so that you can replicate it for your end-of-year dinner.

Ingredients:
1 4-pound boneless leg of lamb, tied up with butcher’s twine
salt, pepper

For marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
oil, pepper

1. Marinate lamb. Pat leg of lamb dry with a paper towel. On a chopping block as a work surface, drizzle olive oil all over the lamb and rub with pepper. Stuff every nook of leg of lamb with garlic and herbs. Transfer to a large glass container that you can use to marinate. Combine orange juice and white wine in a small bowl and pour into the container to marinate the lamb. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. Make sure you turn over the lamb after several hours to soak the other side.
2. When ready to cook, remove the lamb from the fridge and let rest at room temperature. Arrange two racks in the oven: the middle rack to hold the lamb and the lower rack to hold a roasting pan to catch the drippings. (Spread chopped carrots, parsnips and onions in the pan for some roasted veggies to go with the lamb.) Preheat oven to 425º. Place the empty aluminum foil-lined roasting pan in the oven while the oven is pre-heating.
3. Cook the lamb. Remove the lamb from the container and pat dry with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the lamb. Place directly on middle rack of the oven; the roasting pan below will catch the drippings. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300º and roast an additional hour, or about 10 minutes per pound. Using a meat thermometer, the thickest part of the lamb must be around 135º for medium-rare. Let stand for half an hour before carving. Use just the drippingsand/or the roasted veggies to serve with the lamb.

Related post/s:
Order your leg of lamb from Ehrhardt Farm via Dickson’s Farmstand
My growing list of lamb and veal recipes
Lefover lamb can turn into a delicious salad